US President Donald Trump points his finger during a cabinet meeting in the White House Cabinet Room, in Washington, DC, USA, on May 27, 2026 REUTERS/Evan Vucci Since the United States Supreme Court considered the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump on the country's trading partners illegal, the American government began to return amounts collected from companies that paid extra tariffs on imported products since April 2025, when the tariff was announced. According to data from the public accounts report released this Monday (13) by the US Treasury Department, around US$81 billion has been reimbursed since October 2025, the beginning of the American fiscal year. ?? Do you have any reporting suggestions? Send it to g1 In the same period last year, it was just US$5 billion. According to the Treasury, the increase occurred "almost entirely" because of the Supreme Court decision, with payments concentrated mainly in the months of May and June. In June, the government raised US$23.6 billion from tariffs, but returned US$49.2 billion to importers. In practice, there was a net outflow of US$25.6 billion related to tariffs in the month.
After defeat in the Supreme Court, the Trump administration has already returned US$81 billion in tariffs
US President Donald Trump points his finger during a cabinet meeting in the White House Cabinet Room, in Washington, DC, USA, on May 27, 2026 REUTERS/Evan Vucci Since the United States Supreme Court considered the...
Why are fees being returned? The American president defended surcharges as a way to protect industry, stimulate domestic production and increase government revenue. In February, however, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down so-called “reciprocal tariffs” of 10% or more that have been in place since April 2025. The court ruled that Trump overstepped his authority by imposing a sweeping increase in tariffs on imports from nearly all of the U.S.’s trading partners. According to the Court, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), used by Trump to justify tariffs, does not allow the president to create tariffs on his own. Since then, the government has been required to reimburse importing companies that had paid additional tariffs under IEEPA. On the same day, Trump announced that he would use a new legal instrument to maintain tariffs against imported products. This time, it used Section 122 of US trade law, which allows it to impose temporary sanctions, to establish a new 10% tariff valid for 150 days. Exports Jornal Nacional/ Reproduction US deficit reaches US$ 1.367 trillion in fiscal year The huge refund of tariffs helped worsen the US budget deficit in June to US$ 120 billion. A year earlier, the country had a surplus of US$27 billion. In the fiscal year, which started in October, the American deficit reached US$ 1.367 trillion, an increase of 2% compared to the same previous period. Total revenue rose 4% in the period, to US$4.151 trillion, but expenses grew at a faster pace, reaching US$5.518 trillion. In addition to tariff refunds, interest payments on public debt also put pressure on accounts. Interest expenses exceeded US$1 trillion in the period, an increase of 14%. * With information from Reuters and AFP
